Research Fellow (SOC091R)

The Department of Politics and International Relations is inviting applications for a position as Research Fellow to conduct research as part of the ESRC-funded project, The International Politics of Soldier Exchanges: Military Families, States and International Institutions.

The Research Fellow will work closely with Project Co-Lead Dr Natasha Danilova on analysing documents, media and social media coverage pertinent to humanitarian soldier exchanges, and experiences of military families in Russia, using available policy-framing documents, media and social media data sourced from the Integrum database and other relevant sources. Tasks include participating in the creation of a dataset of policy documents that govern the reporting on missing and killed soldiers in Russia; contributing to the analysis of the media coverage of military families across traditional and digital media, including soldiers’ mothers and wives’ protests, and take a lead in the mixed-method analysis of Russia’s military families’ organising on social media and via other digital means.       

The Research Fellow will co-author relevant research outputs, participate in the training of the project’s staff, and have an opportunity to present preliminary project findings at relevant workshops and conferences.

The successful candidate will have advanced knowledge and skills in mixed-method, computational/qualitative content analysis (inc. social media data) with expertise on Russia’s politics, gender, war, security and society-military relations. They will be comfortable working across policy documents, traditional mass media, and social media sources, and interested in themes such as military families, gender and feminist analysis of conflicts and conflict-mediation, peace work, humanitarian exchanges, and state-society relations in highly militarized autocratic states.

This postdoctoral position requires a doctoral degree (or a thesis submitted and awaiting examination) in Politics, International Relations, Peace and Conflict Mediation Studies, Russian Studies, History, or a closely related discipline. The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in the Russian language.

Salary will be at the appropriate point on the Grade 6 scale, £39,560 - £40,704 per annum, and negotiable with placement according to qualifications and experience.

This is a full-time post for 18 months, 1 December 2026 – 31 May 2028.

Informal enquiries should be made to Dr Natasha Danilova, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, n.danilova@abdn.ac.uk.

Please include a cover letter with the application.

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 20 November 2026. Interviews will take place in the following week, and the post in place by 1 December 2026.

You will be required to complete an online application form. In addition, please supply a full CV and a covering letter (maximum two sides of A4) explaining your fit for the position and addressing the essential and, where possible, desirable criteria. Please do not attach any additional materials, such as writing samples or student evaluations.

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